The County of Summit, through its economic development efforts,seeks to encourage regional job growth and business development in an effort to increase economic opportunity for all Summit County residents.

Under the leadership of County Executive Ilene Shapiro and its director Connie Krauss, the County of Summit Department of Community & Economic Development has played a role in numerous significant achievements, including:

Assisting in retaining the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company Global North American Headquarters and Innovation Center in Summit County

Partnering with city, county and state officials to keep Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations in Summit County

Collaborating with First Energy, the Summit County Port Authority, Akron Children’s Hospital, Summa Health System, Akron General Health System, NEOMED, the University of Akron and the State of Ohio to convert a county-owned building into a new, state-of-the-art headquarter facility for the Austen BioInnovation Institute in Akron (ABIA)

Creating the Job Preservation and Revenue Sharing Agreement to prevent job poaching between neighboring communities and financially assisting communities who lose an employer to another signatory community

We hope you will find the information on this page useful. Please feel free to call or email us should you have any questions!

International Credit and Finance Tools: What Every Exporter Needs to Know

Funding Available to Help Reduce Energy Costs and Improve Energy Efficiency

State offers Low-Interest Loans

The Energy Loan Fund is now accepting applications. The fund helps small businesses, manufacturers, nonprofits, and local governments implement energy efficiency improvements to lower energy use and costs. Eligible applicants receive low-interest financing to install efficiency measures that reduce energy by at least 15 percent. Technical assistance is also available to facilitate the required energy audit for potential applicants.

Small businesses, local governments, manufacturers, school districts, colleges and universities, and nonprofit organizations are eligible to apply. Loan amounts vary depending on the project and can be from $250,000 up to $2 million. Technical assistance is also available to help eligible applicants identify energy efficiency measures for their facility.

To apply, organizations must first register and submit a Letter of Intent. The Letter of Intent must include:

An overview of the proposed project;

Projected energy use savings;

Projected energy cost savings;

Simple payback with incentives, if applicable;

Loan amount requested and cost share; and

A description of the anticipated expenses for which the loan and cost share will be used.

A Letter of Intent to apply should be submitted online at: https://development.ohio.gov/EnergyLoanFund. Qualified applicants who have submitted a Letter of Intent will receive written instructions from Ohio Development Services Agency on how to access the online Loan Application.

A copy of the program guidelines and the application process can be found here. Questions about the program should be sent to
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it